Activate LockDown Browser in a Canvas course


This process will need to be done in each Canvas course.


  1. Make sure it is enabled in your Course Navigation. Here are the steps to doing that.
  2. Next, click on the LockDown Browser link that you just activated in the Canvas course:

  1. Now you can use LockDown Browser in the course.


Instructors are highly encouraged to view the "Getting Started" materials within the page you go to after completing Step 3. There are two especially valuable resources on this page:

  • Instructions for Students
  • Instructions and rationale for creating a practice quiz


A practice quiz is very important because it ensures that the students have the LDB installed on their machines and are familiar with using it before using in an actual exam. This will significantly lower the anxiety that new users of LDB will face.


Instructors can grab some instructions that they can provide to their students under number two. 

  1. Select the Canvas quiz engine that you are using for the quiz (New Quizzes vs Classic Quizzes).
  2. Select what features that you will be using in your session
    • Use Lockdown Browser only for in-class sessions. The instructor in the room is the proctor for the exam.
    • Use Lockdown Browser & Respondus Monitor (webcam) for sessions where students will be testing from remote locations. This uses the student's webcam to help monitor the test process.
  3. When the box with the instructions opens, you can copy and paste that into the Quiz description box and edit as needed.



Turning on LockDown Browser for a quiz


After you create the quiz, you can follow the following steps to activate LDB for that quiz. This will need to be done for each quiz for which you want to use LDB.


  1. Click on LockDown Browser in the Course Navigation menu.
  2. Click on the Dashboard (if it is not already selected).
  3. Click the down arrow next to the quiz.
  4. Click on Settings.
  5. Select the option to Require Respondus LockDown Browser for this exam.

    Under the Advanced Settings you can also decide whether to 
  6. Lock students into the browser until exam is complete (make sure to read the explanation of what this means by hovering over "explain" before checking this).
  7. Allow students to use an iPad to take the exam.
  8. Allow students to access outside web pages that you determine. For example, if they need to read something not on the quiz to answer questions. This will allow them to visit any site with that same domain (for example, if you link to a NYT article, they will be able to access other NYT articles as well.
  9. Allow students to use the LDB calculator within the locked browser. If the students are locked into the exam, they cannot use the computer's default calculator.
  10. Enable printing from the toolbar. This is usually turned off, to ensure that students cannot print any part of the exam.
  11. You also have the ability to turn on Respondus Monitor from this menu. This is what requires the student use a webcam during their test. It is only recommended for use if there are students who are taking the test remotely.
  12. When finished click Save + Close to activate LDB for your exam.